Players of the game in this contest were 6’4″ Junior Forward Donicio Simmons with 10 points in the 2nd half for the Lincoln Trojans and Darien Davis with 12 points in the first half for the Christian Brothers Falcons.

Monterey Trail moved its record to 3-0. Players of the Game from Access Sacramento were veteran guard John Horn from Yuba City and Neville Bood for Monterey Trail.

Access Sacramento’s Game of the Week crew plans live and taped coverage of High School basketball over the next 11 weeks including stops at three local tournaments in the next three weeks.

Play by Play Announcer Will James (Left) and Color analyst Rick Stewart

The season opens Friday, Dec. 12 at Monterey Trail High School in Elk Grove for a double-header of two semi-final games in the Mark Macres boys basketball tournament.

Veteran Game of the Week Announcer Will James will handle play by play duties again this season, with Rick Stewart doing color analysis and interviews. James is Co-Executive Producer for Access Sacramento’s annual Game of the week coverage.

Access Sacramento will be at Sacramento’s St. Hope Classic boys basketball tournament next week and concludes pre-season coverage the weekend after Christmas at Cordova High School for the Cordova Christmas Classic.

The D5 Hot spot, a wonderful place for youth ages 13 to 19 to come and play basketball on a Friday night. Last Friday’s Hot Spot was a success! All of the kids were engaged in basketball, a sport that they all love, and they were all in a safe enviroment. Click play for more information!

Was last season a fluke or is Hiram Johnson High School basketball regaining its crown?

Johnson Varsity basketball has opened a lot of eyes in the Sacramento metropolitan area.

Coach Stefan Villegas has changed the atmosphere around when it comes to HJHS basketball.

When asked was this season a fluke he said, “It was a big turnaround for our players and program.”

Coach Villegas thinks that they are coming back to the playoffs and that his players are hungrier than ever.

In the NBA, you have the Miami Heat and they have the “big 3” including Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, and LeBron James. Hiram Johnson has there own big 3: Sophomore Vonte Grant, Junior Donald Jackson, and Junior Charles Mills.

According to Donald Jackson, he believes “The future is very bright because we have a lot of young players that have a lot of potential.”

According to Charles Mills, “Vonte brings a lot of energy to the game and he has the skill set of a varsity caliber type player.”

Coach Villegas is excited for the upcoming season. He communicates with his players everyday.

The big 3 appreciates Coach V because he is a great motivator teacher and Coach.

CIF-SJS championship basketball broadcasts began on Access Sacramento in 1996.

Regular Access Sacramento production staff are joined each year by volunteers from the Cosumnes River College Radio TV and Film Production department in order to create this many games over a two day period.

Gary MartinChair, Radio TV and Film Production
Apple Authorized Training Center®
Cosumnes River College

Win or lose in life negativity, is never far behind, and thus it is up to each and every individual to disregard it and define their own success. This past basketball season my team and I wrapped up a winless season, but we found our success. We found neither the scoreboard nor the critics could dictate our victory, only we could.

They say that after every storm there is a rainbow, well our rainbow stayed through the storm; our symbol of hope. We became infamous for our lopsided scores, but mostly for our game at Florin High School, we lost 105 to 2. Just as fast as the game began it ended; the critics came even faster. The Sacramento Bee wrote an article about the game, the very first positive perspective of the game. The Bee spoke of our perseverance, not the score, our lack of experience, not our turnovers, our refusal to forfeit, not our ignorance to the fundamentals. They made us out to be a symbol of perseverance for the community, not the losers others made us to be.

Pride overwhelmed us, but like clock-work the negativity was back: blogs, comments on the article, even at school. The article intended to shine some light on to the unknown factors of the loss, but only gave more reason for negativity. Despite everything we refused to see the articles as negative, no longer would we be ashamed of that night at Florin. We felt pride in the fact that we controlled what we could. No matter how many times the referees or the coach offered we didn’t forfeit. Like warriors we continued to fight, knowing the game was lost from the moment the ball was tipped off.

For many of the girls this was their first time touching a ball, let alone playing. My coach made me captain; she trusted me to lead my team, trusted I would hold their heads up if they ever fell, and to ensure my team was not discouraged by the critics or the scoreboard. Little did I know this was the easiest part. Our heads never hung, our pride never hurt. Slowly but surely this season was shaping us into strong, determined individuals.

Losing became all but a stranger, and our rainbow began to shine brighter than ever. We improved every game, made less turnovers, made more baskets, showed more heart. We sought only to obtain the basic fundamentals of the game, but we got so much more than that. CBS did a broadcast featuring our practice and our game, bringing us more positive attention. Then the letters, the awards, and the donations began to come in. There was nothing negative left to focus on; we won.

The season soon wrapped up, and in those few months our small team turned into a big family. It became more than a game, it became a life lesson. A lesson we will carry forever; on paper we may have lost, but in our hearts knew we won far more than a game.